Interview with poet Charles Coe of Cambridge, Mass.

Interview with Poet Charles Coe

Some years ago I interviewed Charles Coe for a small magazine in the South End of Boston: “Community Glue.” Coe, who was just recovering from surgery for a benign brain tumor, had just released a collection of poetry with the “Leapfrog Press,” of Wellfleet, Mass. “Picnic on the Moon.” Coe was, and still is very much a fixture in the writing community in the area. He is an activist in the “National Writers Union;” a coordinator for the “Mass. Cultural Council Support Program,” that provides grants for arts organizations, a widely published poet, journalist and book reviewer. Since our first meeting our paths have crossed at various events in the literary community. When I heard that Coe was working on a second book of poetry I thought it would be good to touch base with him on my program “Poet to Poet/Writer to Writer” on Somerville Community Access TV.

Doug Holder: Charles you are a long-time activist with the National Writers Union that serves freelance writers. What are the special needs of freelancers?

Charles Coe: To earn a living. Basically, right now, the publishing industry is trying to turn writers into workers-for-hire. With writers, the only piece of capital they have is their work. Often publishers will say we own the rights to your work forever. The publisher then has the right to put your work out on the internet and charge people to download it, and not give any of that money to the writer. This is a problem, and one of the issues we work with the writers to combat. We also deal with intellectual property rights issues like

libel insurance. In the past publishers have carried that cost, but now more and more are trying to shovel it on the writer’s plate. It’s a very difficult time for a writer to make a living. The market conditions are limited--there are so few opportunities. There was a time when you could go to a newsstand and see 15 to 20 magazines that carried short fiction. Now there are very few options for that.

DH: You also oversee the literature and music grant programs for the Mass. Cultural Council. What do you look for in an organization that requests money? And how does one go about applying for a grant?

CC: We run these programs for incorporated non-profits; so you have to be a non-profit. The grant is for general operating support. It’s not money tied to a specific project you want to do. It’s pencil and paperclip money; the hardest type of money to get. We have 13 different disciplines we give money to. If you came from the literary discipline, you would submit an application that makes a case for the quality of work you do; you talk about how involved you are with the community, and you talk about the management of your organization. We bring together panels of people who are experts in a particular field. They evaluate the applications. They score them all. Some are recommended for funding, and some, unfortunately, don’t make the cut. More get funding than don’t. The funding you get is determined by the size of the organization and how well you do on the evaluation process. We cut you a check. The minimum is $1500; the maximum is $40,000 for a huge organization.

DH: You are a writer in many genres, as well as a jazz vocalist. I know that many poets have an affinity for jazz. For instance, Robert Creeley told me in an interview for Poesy

Magazine that he recently collaborated with the late jazz musician Steve Lacey. What do you think draws poets to jazz?

Cc: Both poetry and music plays with rhythm and space. One of the things that made a musician like Miles Davis great is that he knew when to let a little space creep in. He doesn’t fill the air with a million notes. With poetry that really works, it has that same sense of pace as jazz; something pulling forward and pushing back. You are looking at language that is colorful and evocative, rather than four square and sounding like a manual for a lawn mower. Poetry evokes stuff that’s not on the page. That’s where the fun begins. So there is a real synergy between poetry and jazz.

DH: Do you compose poetry to the music of let’s say: Miles Davis, Coltraine, Monk, or Wayne Shorter?

CC: I don’t. I know people who do. I know people who don’t compose to music as such, but they like it playing when they write. I like to have music playing when I am writing. Not necessarily jazz. Sometimes I like classical music, or music from a non-western culture. It can’t be too loud or hard-edged.

There a zillion different ways to be inspired to write. I remember reading about an 18^th Century French poet who could only write if somewhere in the room was a basket of rotten apples.

DH: When I first interviewed you some years ago you had just survived an operation for a brain tumor.

CC: I had a benign tumor. They got most of it. Every morning I take my shots that keeps the remaining tumor from growing. I have to get a M.R.I. a couple-of-times a year. It’s a real pain-in-the-neck, but it’s something you have to do.

DH: At the same time the “Leapfrog Press”, a press started by the noted poet Marge Piercy, published your poetry collection; “Picnic on the Moon.” How was it working with Piercy?

CC: She is a fierce intellect. She is so focused on her writing, and she is incredibly prolific. In addition to extraordinary poetry she writes non-fiction memoir. She writes these novels that she researches by reading 200 to 250 books. She is like a laser beam. She has a fabulous editor, Ira Wood.

DH: What was the theme of “Picnic on the Moon?”

CC: There are 8 to 10 pieces that are related to family issues. It covers family, and personal experiences outside the family context. A lot of my writing is stimulated by observing the world.

I am working on my second book which is all about my parents. My father died this past May, and my mother is quite infirm.

DH: Is this book therapeutic for you?

CC: It’s about 8oo different things. Part of the reason I am writing these poems is that my parents are very interesting people. And there are stories about them that are very interesting that I want people to know. About. The poems are snapshots of some pretty remarkable people. Some of the stuff is very sad, some is wacky, and some is a little perverse. It’s just a bunch of stuff I want to say about them.

DH: I am always interested in writing about food. So I was naturally drawn to your poem “Pot Roast” Do you think food is good fodder for poetry?

CC: Absolutely. I am a food nut. My father was a fantastic cook. Food is an incredibly rich place to go to write. Some of my favorite non-fiction writing is about food. I love Calvin Trillin for instance.

DH: Are you an African-American writer, or a writer who is African-American?

CC: There is no way I can not be an African-American writer because I am African American. Being African-American does not mean the only topics that interest me are related to my race. I don’t care how I am defined. I’ve never accepted the idea I should be limited to certain topics or ideas. I am interested in the world. Anyone who tells me I can’t be interested in the Greeks or French movies; I am not interested in. If you start to write to please people you are dead. The only thing that you will ever write that everybody likes is a check.

DH: How is it now for artists and writers with funding cuts, and the rapid rise in housing costs, etc...?

CC: I think it is really difficult. When we were kids it seemed we had enough money to do what we wanted to do. A normal person could afford their own apartment. Now money is grinding everybody’s bones to death. The only artists that are going to stay the course are the ones who are unreasonably committed. I tell young people I work with that if you can live without writing you probably should.

Doug Holder